"Bossa Nova" is a light little romantic comedy, flirty and humorous, but never really going anywhere in particular. The film stars Amy Irving as Mary Ann, an English teacher. One day, an older lawyer named Pedro (Antônio Fagundes) sees her and is instantly in love. But, of course, that's not quite all as Mary Ann's friend is out to find love on her on in virtual ways, and there's also Pedro's intern Sharon.

It's a cute little romantic comedy full of amusing characters bouncing off each other in their search for love. But it never reaches for much more than that, almost feeling like a sitcom at times. It's attempts at romance are better at its attempts at laughs - there's a scene where two of Mary's students are attempting to use American curse words that starts off as funny and then goes way too long for it's own good. I don't mind swear words at all, but the way they are used here is simply not needed, and probably gave (or made sure that the film got) it an R.

It often becomes one of those films where the scenery catches your eye when your ears become bored with listening to the plot. The cinematography captures Rio De Janero wonderfully, and it looks almost impossibly beautiful, with lively, vibrant colors and images. But, as for the movie itself, the performances are rather varied. Irving isn't bad as Mary Ann, but she's never that engaging, nor does she really give the viewer a reason to care about her character - she is also the wife of the director, Bruno Barretto. The other characters are fairly one-dimensional.

Overall, "Bossa Nova" has some fun moments, but really doesn't work as a whole quite as well as it should - and I think it's so-so attempts at humor are part of the problem.